


Is That Your Mark?

by TwicetheTrouble



Series: The Remnants [1]
Category: RWBY, Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Just a little angst, Platonic Soulmates, Remnant is just a weird little planet in their universe, Remnant is part of RvB, Sort Of, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, jaune is agent washington
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:35:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27430597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwicetheTrouble/pseuds/TwicetheTrouble
Summary: All people of Remnant are born with their own symbol printed on them. At puberty, the symbol of another will appear as well. This person, known as their bond, is destined to be the one person in the world that knows them best, to be there for them even when everything goes to shit.Ruby and Jaune share such a bond.But things don't go as smoothly as it should.Or, Ruby and Jaune find out they're bondmates.
Relationships: Jaune Arc & Ruby Rose
Series: The Remnants [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022901
Kudos: 15





	Is That Your Mark?

**Author's Note:**

> Should I be writing a one shot in the middle of NaNoWriMo? probably not! Am i doing so because I really wanted to write a soulmate au and decided my ancient idea of Remnant just being a planet in the RvB (and technically halo) universe was the perfect setting for it? Hell yeah!
> 
> I've got some more ideas for this universe but I'm not sure if i'll right them right now. Part of the reason this is just a one shot is because i don't want to commit to another full fic when i'm already actively writing at least 3-4. But my impulse control is shit so here yah go!
> 
> hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

“Is that your mark?” Jaune questioned, nodding towards the two yellow, crescent moon shapes decorating Ruby’s inner arm. They had been sparing for the last hour or so, helping each other prepare for the Vital festival that was starting in a few weeks. It was hot for once so they had forgone their normal combat attire and were in their gym clothes; shorts and a Beacon tee-shirt.

Ruby paused in drinking her water, glancing down at her arm and giggled.

“No. Seriously, Jaune. Like I’d have a yellow mark,” Ruby said, gesturing vaguely to the all red attire she was wearing. “You should really know me better than that. That’s my bond’s mark.”

“Wait, really?” Jaune paused for a moment. “Um…would it be weird if I asked for a closer look?”

“Knock yourself out,” Ruby said with a smile. She held out her arm, using the other to drink out of her water bottle.

Jaune studied the mark closer. It was a golden yellow color, the two crescent moons facing away from each other, one significantly smaller than its pair. A nervous excitement started to make itself known. He knew that mark.

“Cool, huh?”

“Oh yeah. Definitely cool,” Jaune said, suddenly remembering he was staring at Ruby’s arm for the last several seconds. “Why do you cover it up?”

“I don’t do it intentionally,” Ruby said with a pout. “It’s almost always cold in Vale. I’m not going out in short sleeves when it’s cold. I’m not Yang.”

“Right. Of course.”

“Jaune….why are you acting weird?” Ruby said, eyeing him with a teasingly suspicious look.

“No reason!” He exclaimed, only succeeding in making her become even more suspicious of him. “On a completely unrelated point, what’s your mark?”

“A burning rose, same as my belt buckle,” Ruby answered, moving the collar of her shirt aside a bit to show off the bright red symbol stamped across her collarbone.

“You wear your mark?”

“Almost everyone does, Jaune,” Ruby said slowly. “Don’t you? That’s what’s on your shield, right?”

“No, not exactly,” Jaune said, glancing over at the crescent shaped symbols on his shield where he left it in the dirt. “It was my great-great-grandfather’s mark. It was his shield and I didn’t feel right defacing it just for my silly mark.”

“If that’s not your mark, what is?”

Jaune watched Ruby for a long moment, trying to gauge how she’d react. She looked curious and something else he couldn’t quite recognize at the moment. He was pretty sure she was just starting to come to the same conclusions as he did, even if she didn’t have all the facts yet.

With a small sigh, he lifted the hem of his shirt to reveal the same opposite facing moon symbol printed on the side of his ribs.

“Just…this,” he said slowly. There was a moment of silence as Ruby’s eyes went wide, glancing between her arm and Jaune’s ribs rapidly. Then, just as Jaune was sure she was going to react poorly, an inhumane squeal erupted from the girl as she used her semblance to tackle him to the ground in a hug.

“Jaune! You’re my bond!” She squealed again, almost choking him with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. “Do you know what this means?”

“I…can’t breathe…” Jaune complained. Ruby finally let go, allowing Jaune to see the giant grin plastered across her face.

“It means we’re _bondmates!_ ” She said excitedly, not seeming to notice or care that she was still sitting on Jaune. “I thought it would take forever to find my bond! Like you hear all those stories about people meeting their bonds at school and it sounds so impossible. Out of the billions of people that live on Remnant, how should it be possible you just happen to meet your one and only bond going to the same school? It doesn’t make sense! Though both my mom and dad met their bonds at school. My mom’s bond was her partner, my Uncle Qrow, and my dad’s was Yang’s mom. Oh and Yang found hers as soon as we got to school so maybe it’s not as impossible as it seems. Hers is Blake, by the way.”

Ruby finally paused to take a breath before continuing at less of a breakneck speed.

“I just never thought _I’d_ find _my_ bond while in school. You know?”

“Me neither,” Jaune admitted.

“Where’s my mark?” Ruby asked, already holding up his arms and searching them closely. “You have mine, right?”

“Left leg,” He said with a chuckle. “Just above the knee.”

Ruby was off of him in a second, now sitting next to him staring at where his pants covered his knees. Jaune sat up, pushing his pantleg up just enough for the red rose mark to become visible.

“That’s so cool,” She whispered in awe, reaching out to touch it only to pause. “Wait, what do you want to do?”

“About what?” Jaune asked.

“About the marks! Do you want to activate them now? Activate them later? Decide never to activate them at all?” Ruby questioned. Jaune opened his mouth to answer but she just continued. “And then there’s the whole thing with people immediately assuming bondmates equals romantic relationship, which is definitely not true. Sure having a romantic relationship with your bond makes the whole dating thing super easy but it doesn’t _have_ to be romantic. And, if I’m being honest, I don’t want a romantic relationship with you right now, or with anyone really. I’m only fifteen and being leader of team RWBY plus all the school work takes up a lot of time and effort. I don’t think I could add a boyfriend on top of that even if I wanted to.”

“No, you’re right,” Jaune said with a reassuring smile. “I don’t want to start a romantic relationship with you either. You’re one of my best friends and I care about you a lot, but I don’t see you like that right now.”

“Oh good,” Ruby said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I’m glad. What about activating them?”

“I’m all for it.”

“Me too.” Ruby grinned, holding out her marked arm towards Jaune. Jaune placed his hand over the yellow mark as Ruby placed her free hand over his own red mark.

Jaune had always thought that activating a bond would be a huge fanfare, with fireworks behind his eyes and a flood of emotions that he wouldn’t be able to fully name. But it wasn’t. He felt the mental equivalent of a small pop before happiness appeared at the edge of his mind. Happiness, accompanied by excitement, and a little bit of nervousness. It took him longer than it should for him to realize they weren’t his emotions.

_“Did it work?”_ Jaune thought. The not-his-excitement spiked as if in response.

_“Hi Jaune!”_ Ruby’s voice echoed through his head without her ever opening her mouth. _“It worked!”_

_“Will it stay like this? Trading thoughts back and forth?”_

_“I don’t think so. Blake and Yang only share thoughts when they touch each other’s mark like we are. The emotions should stay but they may be affected by distance,”_ Ruby explained, her nervousness fading as they talked.

_“We’ll feel each other’s pain too, right?”_

_“Yep! Just a little though. Dad says you feel it enough to know they’re injured but not enough that your incapacitated yourself.”_

_“So I’ll finally know when you’re getting yourself into trouble. That’s good,”_ Jaune teased. Ruby pouted at him indignantly but he could feel no real negative emotions coming from her.

_“I’m not that bad.”_

_“You got into school two years early because you got involved in a robbery.”_

_“I stopped a robbery, thank you very much,”_ Ruby pointed out proudly. _“But yeah, I see your point.”_

Ruby let go of the mark, the connection dropping to just a small trickle of emotions running in the background of his mind.

“I have to go tell Yang!” She said with excitement, jumping to her feet to collect her things. “She’s going to be so excited!”

“Wait!” Jaune called just as she was about to leave. A nervous feeling had clawed its way up through his chest. A small, irrational fear that if she left now, she wouldn’t come back. That she wouldn’t _want_ to come back. That he would be alone because his bond hated him.

A hand dropped down onto his shoulder’s startling him back to the present as Ruby smiled softly at him.

“Don’t worry, Jaune. You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” She said confidently, picking out his worries easily now that their bond was complete. “You’re my bond. I wouldn’t leave you for the world.”

She placed a small, chaste kiss on his cheek; feeling of fondness and acceptance coming from her as she took off towards the dorms.

-

Agent Washington awoke with a gasp, his dream still vivid in his mind. He sat up in his bunk, shaking his head to dispel the visions of the red clad girl from his mind. It didn’t work as well as he would have liked.

It had been years since he thought of Remnant, even longer since he dreamed of it. He wondered why it came back now, while he was hiding in a sim trooper base, pretending to be part of them to avoid getting arrested by the UNSC. It didn’t make sense, but then again, when was the last time his mind had ever made sense.

It’s gone. _They_ were gone. It made no sense to dwell on it now.

Except that he was. It’s been twenty years since he had last seen his home planet. Maybe not exactly twenty years. The Remnant calendar had not lined up well with the UNSC’s so it was hard to say how long it’s been. But twenty years was about as accurate a guess as he could get.

Twenty years since alien ships appeared over Vale. Twenty years since the Covenant invaded. Twenty years since his team was slaughtered and he was taken captive for two weeks only to be saved by a team of Spartans.

Washington’s hand hovered over his left leg, right where he knew his bond’s mark lay hidden under his armor. It had been twenty years since he had felt anything from it too. The last thing he felt from her was a sharp pain in his shoulder before he had been taken, since then he had felt…nothing.

He let his hand drop onto the flat mattress, a sigh leaving his lips. He had more important things to worry about then ghosts of a long glassed planet, like keeping the Reds and Blues from accidentally killing each other, making sure they both had enough supplies, keeping Carolina from shooting the only members of his team while they stood outside the bedroom window.

Wait, Carolina?

Washington’s eyes shot back to the window to see a very familiar aqua colored armor aiming a battle riffle at the only other blues in the canyon.

How was she even alive?

No, he’d have to figure that one out later. Right now, Tucker was saying something to her and, judging by his body language, it wasn’t going to end well.

Washington jumped out of bed, throwing on his helmet as he ran out of the room and towards the exit. If he was fast enough, maybe he’d get there before she shot him.

Several gunshots rang through the base in tandem with Tucker’s swears.

Well, maybe he could still get there before she _killed_ him.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my [tumblr](https://twicethetrouble.tumblr.com/) for updates and other random stuff!


End file.
